Polka
is one of the main protagonists from Eternal Sonata. A young floral powder salesgirl from the quiet village of Tenuto, she is often viewed with fear and suspicion due to her ability to use magic. Polka befriends Frédéric François Chopin and journeys to Forte in an attempt to lower down the shipment of mineral powder. Appearance and Personality Polka is fourteen years old. She has long, pale blond hair in braided pigtails and sky blue eyes. She wears a burnt-orange dress with matching shoes, white sleeves, white bloomers, knee-high white socks, and a flower on her left wrist. She enjoys being around others and she has a crush on Allegretto, though at first she finds herself annoyed or confused by his behavior. She has a strong will, but at times doesn't feel too confident and has a tendency to apologize for her actions, even when she hasn't done anything wrong that anyone would blame her for. Although she is reviled and shunned because of her illness, she holds a burning desire to save the people she loves. She maintains a cheery outward personality, and her outlook in life improves through her journeys, but can still be sad at times. In the PlayStation 3 version Polka gets two additional costumes she can wear; a light blue dress and a black one, with white aprons and matching head scarves and shoes. Fighting Style In battle, Polka wields a parasol and dons light armor for defense. She and Frederic are the only members in the party able to use magic. She has long range attacks like Shade Comet and Shooting Star. Polka can fight at close range, though it is recommended to keep her out of the fray due to her lower HP and defense stats. She swings her parasol around like a sword, but does so at an average rate so building Echoes is not something she can be counted on to do. Her Nether Wave and Disruption Wave attacks are "power" moves and she can inflict a great deal of damage early on with them (especially due to the finishing hit), but these tend to get overshadowed as the playable roster expands. Her real strength lies in her long distance attack capabilities and her unmatched healing capacity. She should occupy the role of healer for any boss battles. Her attack parameter is sufficient due to frequent weapon upgrades throughout the story, so she doesn't suffer from low strength like typical healer characters in RPGs. Polka does have some unique magic attacks that can turn out to be handy. Her Roundel and Zodiac are situational, but inflict damage in a decent area around her position, making them good crowd control should the enemies swarm around her. Her two big magic attacks, Pure Geyser and Terra Externa, hit every target regardless of their position for large damage allowing Polka to serve as a supporting attacker while staying safely away on the most distant part of the field (though due to their long animation time, she is unlikely to unleash more than two per round). Polka has potential as a healer at later levels. She begins with Orange Glow, which is a healing skill on a single target and not that strong. It is comparable to Frederic's Sacred Signature, but takes longer to cast. At level 15 (16 for Xbox 360) she learns Earth Heal. While this skill cannot heal herself, it heals all other party members within range and carries greater power than Viola's Heal Arrow, even without Echoes built up. Polka's ultimate healing skill is Blossom Shower. Learned at level 48 in the Xbox 360 version (40 for PlayStation 3), this move heals the entire party for a large amount of HP. In the PlayStation 3 version, Serenade's dark L'energie du Vent is comparable, but only with a high Echo count, as the power of Serenade's Specials is highly dependent on the Echo count. There is a small beneficial glitch involving the use of Earth Heal in conjunction with Harmony Chains. While this move is not supposed to heal Polka, if used as part of a Harmony Chain sequence (other than the first turn), it may heal Polka if the other two party members are at full health. History Beginning the Journey Polka is first seen in the beginning of the game when she is returning from a depressing day at Ritardando. That night, Polka goes to flower fields where she meets Chopin and takes him to the Heaven's Mirror blooming area. That night she decides to go to Forte with Chopin, but this leads to an argument between Polka and her mother. After reaching an agreement, the next morning Polka and Frederic head out to Agogo Forest where begins to rain. They encounter Fugue, one of Count Waltz's henchmen, who attacks them and knocks them unconscious. March finds them and takes them to Agogo Village to heal. The next morning Polka and Frederic meet Allegretto and Beat, but when they mention her magic skills she runs away and is attacked by a monster. Allegretto and the others defeat it and save her. In March's house the group decides to adventure to Forte together since all four have a business in the city. Polka and the others find a sheep herder named Viola being attack by monster-like humanoids. After defeating the monsters Polka and the others are educated on the negative side effects of Mineral Powder on humans. Viola joins them on the journey to Forte, and the group passes through Fort Fermata to Forte Castle. When Polka and the others arrive they are confronted by Tuba, another of Count Waltz's henchmen; he seems to be anticipating the arrival of a rebel group and they are consequently thrown in prison. In the Forte Dungeon the party meets March's older twin Salsa, who had also been imprisoned for requesting to speak to Count Waltz, and everyone escapes through Andantino's secret passage. Outside the group meets Jazz, Falsetto and Claves, members of the resistant group Andantino. The entire party heads out to the Cabasa Bridge, but they are ambushed by Tuba and forced to fight him again. Defeated, Tuba destroys the bridge and the party to falls into the Fusion River. Polka sinks to the bottom and gets stuck in the riverbed; Allegretto attempts to save her, but fails and is dragged away in the current. The Power Astra The party is split after the destruction of Cabasa bridge; Polka, Frederic, Beat, and Salsa are saved by Prince Crescendo and take refuge on his ship heading to to Baroque. The ship is attacked by pirates and Polka and the others board their ship to stop them. Polka reveals her special rock to the group; she's had it since she can remember, and says she received it from the one she loved. After defeating the pirates' leader, the group arrives in Baroque and stays there for a couple of days. Prince Crescendo and Princess Serenade tell them to meet with Jazz by passing through the icy Sharp Mountains where Polka has a vision about her mother talking about her "astra", the jewel in her heart, but puts the vision aside before they continue on to the Wah Lava Caves. They emerge in Agogo Forest where they encounter Fugue once again as he searches for the glowing agogos. The party defeats Fugue and he escapes, the agogos in the forest beginning to glow. March determines it must be Polka's strong astra that causes the agogos to glow. Hiding in the trees nearby, Rondo overhears this and returns to Forte to tell Count Waltz, marking Polka as the Count's next target. Frederic, Beat, Salsa and March head on to Ritardando to look for Allegretto; Polka leaves to visit her mother in Tenuto for a few days. The group decides to take the next ship out to Baroque now that the pirate threat at sea has been quelled. Allegretto travels to Tenuto to tell Polka of their plan; on the way, he finds a small, strangely shaped rock on the seashore. He finds Polka in the flower fields where they talk for a time and begin to develop their relationship. Polka explain if she was not ill she might have never gone on the journey. Polka jokes about jumping off the cliff so that she would be reborn, but instead throws her rock into the ocean. This reminds Allegretto of the rock he found on the beach and he gives it to Polka before he leaves. It is revealed it is the same rock as the one Polka just threw away. Final Encounter The next day Polka and the others head to Baroque to speak with Prince Crescendo about the situation with Count Waltz. After spending a week in Baroque waiting for the Prince's decision, Polka and the others head to Aria Temple to learn about secrets of the astra. They are attacked by Rondo, but defeat her with the help of Falsetto. The group returns to Baroque, but Polka faints in front of the gates. Allegretto is desperate to help her; he and the group return to Agogo Forest to find the Agogo Queen Mother to see if she can help Polka. Deep in the forest they encounter Fugue threatening the life of the Queen Mother. After defeating him for good, they return to Baroque with the Queen Mother and heal Polka, but another situation arises: Prince Crescendo and Princess Serenade have gone to Forte to turn themselves over in hope for peace. The group uses Crescendo's Warp Room to travel to the sacred Cello Tree at the base of Mount Rock. An old woman waits there for the party at her fortune-telling tent, telling them that she has been waiting for Polka's "return." She predicts that Polka will draw a bad fortune and tie it to the tree. Polka draws a fortune and she and Frederic go to the tree to open it, but the fortune is blank. The group journeys through Mount Rock and catches up with Crescendo and Serenade only to be ambushed by Count Waltz, his advisor Legato and his fleet of dragons. Polka and the others are forced to battle with Count Waltz himself and defeat him. Polka and the others witness the transformation of Legato after he drinks advanced mineral powder containing a glowing agogo. Legato tears open a hole in time and space and he and Count Waltz escape through it; the party follows them into the Elegy of the Moon, a city of souls lost to the negative effects of mineral powder, unable to move on to the afterlife. The party passes through Xylophone Tower to open the gate into the Noise Dunes of Fantasy, and conquers the beast guardians of the Double Reed Tower of Sand. At the top of the tower Polka and the others find Count Waltz and Legato and a fight ensues. Although the Count is defeated, Waltz commands Legato to destroy the world. Polka and the others pass through another portal and arrive in a barren, burnt wasteland; it is the Tenuto flower field, destroyed. Frederic wants to leave the dream and move onto the afterlife, and forces the others to fight him to destroy the "imaginary characters" he's created. Frederic is defeated; Polka, realizing it is the world's end, jumps off the cliff to commit suicide, thinking that is the only way to save their world. Allegretto bursts into tears, blaming himself and raging at Frederic's body. As Polka falls she is reborn and falls into her mother's arms as a child. Days later, she and her mother walk through the flower fields, having the exact same conversation as they did at the start of the story; the cycle of the dream is repeating itself. Only this time, Polka hears Frederic's voice calling to her, telling her she deserves to live her life. The child Polka tells her mother someone is calling her. The glowing agogos return Polka to the present as her former teenage self and she restores the world to its former beauty. Allegretto runs to her as she appears in the flower field and they hug and kiss for the first time. Special Attacks This is complete list of Polka's Special Attacks. Some of Polka's moves were altered in the PlayStation 3 port, so she learns some abilities at different levels. (View detailed descriptions of Polka's Special Attacks) Gallery Eternal_Sonata_(221).jpg|Polka in her first alternate costume Polka's Second Alternate Costume.jpg|Polka in her second alternate costume Polka Character Portrait.jpg|Polka's portrait in the menu screen Polka's Victory Pose.jpg|Polka's victory pose Polka's Level-Up Pose.jpg|Polka's Level Up pose Young Polka and Solfege in Tenuto's Flower Field.jpg|With Solfege in the Tenuto Village flower field Polka Restores the World.jpg|Restoring the World of Eternal Sonata in the ending sequence Polka in Tenuto's Flower Field.jpg|Standing in the flower field after restoring the world Eternal Sonata Promotional Wallpaper - Polka.jpg|PS3 promotional wallpaper Eternal Sonata Promotional Wallpaper - Cast.jpg|PS3 promotional wallpaper with other characters Eternal Sonata Promotional Wallpaper - Allegretto, Frederic and Polka.jpg|Xbox 360 promotional wallpaper with Allegretto and Frederic Eternal Sonata Promotional Wallpaper - Polka (Xbox 360).jpg|Xbox 360 promotional wallpaper Eternal Sonata - Polka by ~Kasde on deviantART.jpeg polka - eternal sonata.jpeg Polka – Eternal Sonata _ Jerblcom.jpeg Eternal_Sonata_Polka_wallpaper_by_D_JProductions.jpg Etymology Polka's name derives from the Central European dance called polka, which originated in the 19th century on the Czech Islands; the name comes from the Czech word pulka ''which literally means, little half, a reference the short half-steps featured in the dance. Polka is also the singular feminine form of the Polish word meaning "a Pole," as in a citizen of Poland. This may or may not have been an intentional double meaning on the part of the game's creators.GameFAQs Discussion - Pronunciations and Naming/references Behind the scenes *In the original Xbox 360 version of ''Eternal Sonata, the fortune that Polka draws at the Cello Tree is not blank, but a bad fortune, just as predicted. *The PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata includes two alternate costumes for Polka. The first can be found in a treasure chest at the end of a long a stairway in the mirror Lament, which is exclusive the game's PS3 version. The second can be found in Polka's bedroom in her and Solfege's house in Tenuto Village. It can only be found in Encore Mode. *The PlayStation 3 version of Eternal Sonata includes many new and altered scenes that help to cement Polka's relationship with Allegretto. *The ending sequence of Eternal Sonata shows that each time the loop of the world repeats, Polka materializes before Solfege at around the age of four. It is never stated who, if anyone, is her biological mother. *Polka is one of only two characters who have more light special attacks than dark ones. Notes and references Category:Magic users Category:Playable characters